The Automated Interview, The Denny's Interview, & Missing CDL TLA

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

Drew2009-12-10 09:10

Post-first

jvanderb2009-12-10 09:14

TRWTF is that the bounce message has someone's resume on it!

Altair2009-12-10 09:15

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

What's your HR email address, I think I'd be perfect for that position.

My assassination skills are a bit rusty, but I'm working on it.

Captcha: Similis, sounds painful

Wolfan2009-12-10 09:21

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

dpm2009-12-10 09:22

Gloves.

Beaudetious2009-12-10 09:26

I never interviewed at a Denny's but I did once have a meeting with a potential client over dinner at the Cracker Barrel. And she paid for it.

However, I never did hear back from her (probably a good thing on my part). Maybe I should have picked a better restaurant?

toth2009-12-10 09:27

in the mid-to-late 80's & mdash;

Whitespace, you've screwed over yet another poor soul.

galgorah2009-12-10 09:28

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

NoAstronomer2009-12-10 09:30

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

Will2009-12-10 09:32

I thought for sure that the bus driver/programmer story was going to end with him driving away with the fire hose data cable still attached.

Unknown User2009-12-10 09:37

The last one was funny, but isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. At my university, but campus bus drivers were students. Those buses weren't double-deckers, but they were huge. If the students didn't already need a CDL to operate them, they would at least have had the experience to get one easily. I am sure that there was a computer science / bus driver out there somewhere.

Aaron2009-12-10 09:42

Errr, I believe that the "ride share" concept is for people who all have cars. You find two (or more) people who live and work relatively close together and set up a sort of carpool. Of course it doesn't have to be work, it could be any engagement (say the gym).

It's not a tool for any schmoe to bum a ride, and it's not even remotely like taking a bus. If anything, it's like taking a taxi, but for a tiny fraction of the cost. You split the cost of gas and if you're lucky get 30 minutes of decent conversation instead of road rage.

The real problem is the number of free sites that already do the same thing (minus the background checks, which seems like a marginal benefit at best). The service is useful, just generally not very profitable, and works best on an ad-supported model.

Or maybe TRWTF was that the guy was really trying to run it like a bus service instead of a carpool service. It wasn't very clear.

John2009-12-10 09:50

Oddly enough, I am a computer programmer with commercial bus driving experience. The busses at my college were all driven by students. It was a great part time job.

Jeff Jason2009-12-10 09:57

Hey there,

A guy I work with just alerted me to this post because I am a software developer with a CDL and CS degree!

I went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and we have a bus system with approx 120 student drivers. We trained each one of them to get their CDLs and, like any organization with 150+ employees, we have an IT/MIS department. With the decently cheap student workforce of educated people we realized that we could produce a lot of our own in-house software for a relatively low price. So over time that MIS department has turned into a little php/ruby bus driver/programmer production factory.

I am one of at least 5 developers with a CDL that have come out of there in the last 5 years.

:-)

snoofle2009-12-10 10:00

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

Dear Sir, I feel that I would be perfect for the role of programmer/assassin. I would be happy to demonstrate my programming skills on your computer and my assassin-skills, on you...

Grovesy2009-12-10 10:04

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

connect2reality2009-12-10 10:07

Why not hire a bus driver and network analyst separately?

Mortal2009-12-10 10:16

Want to hire dual cla.ssing programmer/herbalist min 400, pm me

iToad2009-12-10 10:25

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

iToad2009-12-10 10:25

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

JL2009-12-10 10:35

"The Automated Interview" matches my experience of the reading-for-comprehension skills of HR people.

Vollhorst2009-12-10 10:35

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

Stephen2009-12-10 10:38

The CDL/network engineer doesn't seem all that far-fetched to me. I for one have a class A CDL, since I drove a truck before becoming a network administrator and now developer.

evilspoons2009-12-10 10:41

iToad:

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

And if it's anything like the transit system in my city (my dad was a bus driver for 35 years) - retarded management that doesn't allow bus drivers to properly enforce management's rules (fare collection? HA!), the overwhelming impression from the public that you're an asshole before you've done anything good or bad, and the constant threat of the passengers themselves. My dad retired early - another driver who started the same time as him recently made national news because he was beat within an inch of his life by an arrogant, drunk prick of a passenger.

Nitpick time: it is not "80's", unless the number 80 is possessing something ("robot 80's terrible decision led him to the brink of sanity").

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

What's your HR email address, I think I'd be perfect for that position.

My assassination skills are a bit rusty, but I'm working on it.

Captcha: Similis, sounds painful

May be we could Team up ...
My hacking skills are a bit rusty, though my assasination skills are top notch.

I am usually working alone though this could be an educating experience.

J.C.Denton

Garbage Collector2009-12-10 10:48

Vollhorst:

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

When you're an assassin, sometimes your client doesn't want the destructed object deleted. Instead, it's supposed to be left in a prominent place in the heap "to send a message".

My Name?2009-12-10 10:50

Vollhorst:

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

Right. Only the soul of that poor and unfortunate object is being deleted. The body is still there.

Whitespace2009-12-10 10:52

toth:

in the mid-to-late 80's & mdash;

Whitespace, you've screwed over yet another poor soul.

Hey, I had an '87 Oldsmobile Mdash back in the day. It's not my fault that guy jumped off the curb and under my wheels! I miss that car, I hated having to get rid of it when they started looking for whoever hit that guy.

anon2009-12-10 10:57

jvanderb:

TRWTF is that the bounce message has someone's resume on it!

Just because the agency mentions a resume it doesn't mean one was attached. Have you never dealt with with a recruiter?

bjolling2009-12-10 10:58

Vollhorst:

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

Destructor? I thought he was talking about a C++\CLI finalizer.

~~ Third try ~~

My Name?2009-12-10 10:59

Whitespace:

toth:

in the mid-to-late 80's & mdash;

Whitespace, you've screwed over yet another poor soul.

Hey, I had an '87 Oldsmobile Mdash back in the day. It's not my fault that guy jumped off the curb and under my wheels! I miss that car, I hated having to get rid of it when they started looking for whoever hit that guy.

Hope you learned from that to use proper & nbsp;-ing next time.

jvanderb2009-12-10 11:00

anon:

jvanderb:

TRWTF is that the bounce message has someone's resume on it!

Just because the agency mentions a resume it doesn't mean one was attached. Have you never dealt with with a recruiter?

Duh...it's called sarcasm!

Aaron Priven2009-12-10 11:02

As someone who works for a transit agency I am always impressed by the variety of skills our bus operators possess. I hired a graphics production person directly out of the operator pool.

Grovesy2009-12-10 11:09

bjolling:

Vollhorst:

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

Destructor? I thought he was talking about a C++\CLI finalizer.

~~ Third try ~~

Yes, I was talking about .net Finalization, being that IDisposable.Dispose(); is a .net interface...

And yes, I think everyone knows that a Finalizer in .net with MS's runtime does not actually 'destroy' the object, release memory or anything else but simply allow you a final chance to clean up any unmanaged resource before the GC does its job.

Anonymously Yours2009-12-10 11:17

Unfortunately I'm only qualified to drive a rig (for the purpose of this weak joke) and program.

dpm:

Gloves.

Quoted for truth.

evilspoons:

Nitpick time: it is not "80's", unless the number 80 is possessing something ("robot 80's terrible decision led him to the brink of sanity").

Nitpick nitpick time: Using an apostrophe to indicate a decade is a style choice in grammar and it's acceptable to write 80s or 80's. It has nothing to do with showing possession or indicating omitted letters in this case. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html

anon2009-12-10 11:45

major layoffs ... unfortunate few

Anyone else find the first sentence a WTF?

Da' man2009-12-10 11:48

toth:

in the mid-to-late 80's & mdash;

Whitespace, you've screwed over yet another poor soul.

Actually, the RWFT is not even the whitespace inside the entity. The RWTF is the whitespace *around* it.

Em-Dashes are usually set either without whitespaces surrounding them, or – if necessary – with so-called “hair spaces” (U+200A, &#8202;).

An En-Dashe (&ndash;) on the other hand would have to be set with word spaces. At least in this situation.

Ah, the joys of typography :-)

Zylon2009-12-10 11:49

This is the post where I point out all the grammatical errors in today's WTF, but since they seem to never, ever get corrected, I'm thinking I may as well not even bother anymore.

SR2009-12-10 11:51

anon:

major layoffs ... unfortunate few

Anyone else find the first sentence a WTF?

If I were the one being laid off I'd count it as major no matter how few layoffs there were.

SR2009-12-10 11:52

Zylon:

This is the post where I point out all the grammatical errors in today's WTF, but since they seem to never, ever get corrected, I'm thinking I may as well not even bother anymore.

I agree

eBusiness2009-12-10 11:59

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I'm not really an assassin, but I might be able to write a killer app to do the job.

Pffft!2009-12-10 12:00

anon:

major layoffs ... unfortunate few

Anyone else find the first sentence a WTF?

No, it's not a WTF until they start to lay off colonels.

Indrora2009-12-10 12:05

I just &quote;&lt;i>love&lt;/i>&amp;quote; it when CMS systems try to &amp;quot;sanitize&amp;quot; my input;

Anonymous2009-12-10 12:09

SR:

anon:

major layoffs ... unfortunate few

Anyone else find the first sentence a WTF?

If I were the one being laid off I'd count it as major no matter how few layoffs there were.

We got a memo round the office the other day which proudly announced "good news everyone - no wide-scale layoffs!!". So now everyone is shitting themselves about the small-scale layoffs that are clearly implied by the otherwise cheery message. Great way to reassure your staff.

Anon2009-12-10 12:32

Yeah, I don't see a problem with the CDL. As several people have already pointed out in the states, at least, there are lots of student bus drivers. Also, how long does it take to get a CDL anyway? Couple of weeks? Maybe a month?

TRWTF is that I can nip down to U-Haul and they'll happily give me a giant truck with a trailer to tow my car without even asking if I've ever driven anything like that before.

Anon2009-12-10 12:34

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I can't give you references for my assassination skills. All the people who can really appreciate my skills seem to have mysteriously disappeared.

Timothy (TRiG)2009-12-10 12:44

So you want a Teppic/You Bastard combination?

TRiG.

Graham Asher2009-12-10 12:46

I've sent this to my friend Frank, who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster. But that's another story.

JamesQMurphy2009-12-10 13:02

Grovesy:

And yes, I think everyone knows that a Finalizer in .net with MS's runtime does not actually 'destroy' the object, release memory or anything else but simply allow you a final chance to clean up any unmanaged resource before the GC does its job.

A guy I work with just alerted me to this post because I am a software developer with a CDL and CS degree!

I went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and we have a bus system with approx 120 student drivers. We trained each one of them to get their CDLs and, like any organization with 150+ employees, we have an IT/MIS department. With the decently cheap student workforce of educated people we realized that we could produce a lot of our own in-house software for a relatively low price. So over time that MIS department has turned into a little php/ruby bus driver/programmer production factory.

I am one of at least 5 developers with a CDL that have come out of there in the last 5 years.

:-)

Ah, UMass Transit. (Booster blower? I hardly even know her!)

Like Jeff here, I went to UMass for Computer Science and drove buses. Unlike Jeff, I'm one of the few people to escape from the organization without marrying another bus driver...

codeReign2009-12-10 13:14

jvanderb:

anon:

jvanderb:

TRWTF is that the bounce message has someone's resume on it!

Just because the agency mentions a resume it doesn't mean one was attached. Have you never dealt with with a recruiter?

Though that bus was stationary and I never really got the point of it... Maybe they simply did not find a driver...

Synchronos2009-12-10 13:28

Jeff Jason:

So over time that MIS department has turned into a little php/ruby bus driver/programmer production factory.

So it's Ruby on Wheels, then? Better start taking tram-driving lessons, too, to get grasp of the Rails part.

Aaron2009-12-10 13:29

Definitely not far-fetched at all. On my campus, I'm currently training to be one of the 120+ student drivers and my major is IT.

The version I wanted to see2009-12-10 13:31

Aaron:

Errr, I believe that the "ride share" concept is for people who all have cars. You find two (or more) people who live and work relatively close together and set up a sort of carpool.

Because $DEITY knows a person who owns a car wouldn't prefer to ride a bus (or subway or light rail). And if you're lucky, you might get 30 minutes of decent conversation with more than 1 person, instead of road rage.

The only advantage that a car-pool system has over the bus is that on the bus you may encounter "those people" (fill in any group of folks you are uncomfortable around for "those people").

Yalpe Nismou2009-12-10 13:34

Who's Denny ?

Tanuki2009-12-10 13:39

As the Route Master obviously didn't have any passengers while it was moved, couldn't it have been re-instpect as lorry?

I exactly don't know the American system, but at least in EU it's much easier to gain drivers license for a lorry with no trailer -something like three weeks and 500€

Drone2009-12-10 13:51

Clearly, the solution here is to carpool in the mobile lab.

Aaron Griffith2009-12-10 13:56

Graham Asher:

I've sent this to my friend Frank, who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster. But that's another story.

I'm not entirely certain that you're not joking here, but nonetheless... I've found that all scoutmasters do at least 5 other interesting but completely unrelated things. It's like a job requirement.

Ajonos2009-12-10 13:56

Grovesy:

bjolling:

Vollhorst:

Grovesy:

galgorah:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

I am quite well versed in both professions. We will never meet. All fund will be direct deposited into a swiss bank acount. Upon reciept of money I will fix the bug and "Dispose()" of the target.

Only if you can Guarantee ~Target()

/groan

Calling the destructor of an object does not delete it...

/yawn

Destructor? I thought he was talking about a C++\CLI finalizer.

~~ Third try ~~

Yes, I was talking about .net Finalization, being that IDisposable.Dispose(); is a .net interface...

And yes, I think everyone knows that a Finalizer in .net with MS's runtime does not actually 'destroy' the object, release memory or anything else but simply allow you a final chance to clean up any unmanaged resource before the GC does its job.

So he's an assassin that leaves the target in a slow but "sure" deathtrap then?

Heron2009-12-10 14:32

When I was 16 I met a guy for an interview at a local Del Taco. He had a website selling ringtones and voicemail messages, and he wanted me to write software to splice together a robot voice speaking any sentence the user desires! (And yes, he wanted a robot voice, not a human voice.)

I put together a basic design for the software over the next few days, and sent an e-mail to him with the idea. He never replied, and he stopped posting on his website's forum about the same time. Sometimes I wonder if he died or something...

I still have the design, a decade later, and it's remarkably concise (for something a 16-year-old could write). There isn't much I would change if I were doing it today. (On occasion I think about writing it just for kicks.)

Ubuntu Geek2009-12-10 15:40

[quote user="Heron"]When I was 16 I met a guy for an interview at a local Del Taco. He had a website selling ringtones and voicemail messages, and he wanted me to write software to splice together a robot voice speaking any sentence the user desires! (And yes, he wanted a robot voice, not a human voice.)[/user]

There is a package in Ubuntu that will let you play around with speech synthesis:

I still remember "SAM the software mouth for your Commodore 64 computer" WAY back in the day. Good times.

bob1711232009-12-10 15:45

How many people with inheritances really acknowledge that buses exist? I'd bet that anyone who can say they have enough inheritance to start a business probably already thought that the poor people use these giant vehicles as rideshares, and more than a few wonder how they can get a piece of that business.

Though that bus was stationary and I never really got the point of it... Maybe they simply did not find a driver...

The bus on Cron Street? Well, they were scheduled to...

mypalmike2009-12-10 16:26

"in the mid-to-late 80's"

Just say 1987 if you mean 1987.

Johnno2009-12-10 17:43

I'm guessing (given it was miles) that the bus stuff is in another corner of the world, and that said university no longer needs such a service, but....

I drove commercial (public transport) buses for two years after finishing Uni, and there were many other qualified professionals (especially from IT) working there at the time, so I'm not sure that that exact combination qualifications would be all that difficult to find. I guess it may have been different in the '80s, but if anything, gaining an appropriate license (at least in this neck of the woods) is easier today....

Johnno2009-12-10 17:44

Johnno:

I'm guessing (given it was miles) that the bus stuff is in another corner of the world, and that said university no longer needs such a service, but....

I drove commercial (public transport) buses for two years after finishing Uni, and there were many other qualified professionals (especially from IT) working there at the time, so I'm not sure that that exact combination qualifications would be all that difficult to find. I guess it may have been different in the '80s, but if anything, gaining an appropriate license (at least in this neck of the woods) is easier today....

OOPS...I meant was easier then...

Tom the Brat2009-12-10 18:54

I once had a potential client ask me to send them the source code for a project where I had used thousand of SQL stored procedures. I didn't pursue that one.

lesle2009-12-10 19:08

[Nitpick nitpick time: Using an apostrophe to indicate a decade is a style choice in grammar and it's acceptable to write 80s or 80's. It has nothing to do with showing possession or indicating omitted letters in this case. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html[/quote]

More NitPick: Properly, the 80s was a decennary; 1971-1980 and 1981-1990 were decades.

While I'm at it, 1991-2000 was the last decade of the twentieth century; the first year of the third millennium, the 21st century, and the 201st decade was 2001.

And as Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, it's twenty-hundred, not (ugh!) two-thousand.

Grovesy2009-12-10 19:37

JamesQMurphy:

Grovesy:

And yes, I think everyone knows that a Finalizer in .net with MS's runtime does not actually 'destroy' the object, release memory or anything else but simply allow you a final chance to clean up any unmanaged resource before the GC does its job.

Actually, I do want a Mister-Burns=esque 'release the hounds' / 'trap-pit' style button under the meeting-room table when I get the 'to free up memory' answer to the 'explain dispose and finalization in .net' interview question... ok it might be a recent c++ or Java guy who has moved over,so I don't mind as much (even then), but when their CV says '5 years C#' I do wonder

I'm always suprised at the combination of wrong answers to both dispose and finalize for some reason.

dna2009-12-11 06:41

topper : in my local 'ANPE' (national work agency in france) there was an opportunity for some IT tech with Helicopter 'driving' license

Anonymous2009-12-11 07:30

Aaron Griffith:

Graham Asher:

I've sent this to my friend Frank, who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster. But that's another story.

I'm not entirely certain that you're not joking here, but nonetheless... I've found that all scoutmasters do at least 5 other interesting but completely unrelated things. It's like a job requirement.

I thought for sure that the bus driver/programmer story was going to end with him driving away with the fire hose data cable still attached.

if so why would he submit the story?

Thg2009-12-11 09:57

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

Well ... it's a career that can't be out-sourced off-shore

Rain Coat Man2009-12-11 10:21

John:

Oddly enough, I am a computer programmer with commercial bus driving experience. The busses at my college were all driven by students. It was a great part time job.

Minibus or double deckers?
Minibus I believe you just need a few years xp of driving a car to use. Double deckers you need to take an extra test. (At least in the UK (given it was a London Routemaster I will assume the story is based in the UK))

Rain Coat Man2009-12-11 10:27

anon:

major layoffs ... unfortunate few

Anyone else find the first sentence a WTF?

It you have a team of three, and "a few" (2) people are let go it is a major layoff.

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

And if it's anything like the transit system in my city (my dad was a bus driver for 35 years) - retarded management that doesn't allow bus drivers to properly enforce management's rules (fare collection? HA!), the overwhelming impression from the public that you're an asshole before you've done anything good or bad, and the constant threat of the passengers themselves. My dad retired early - another driver who started the same time as him recently made national news because he was beat within an inch of his life by an arrogant, drunk prick of a passenger.

Nitpick time: it is not "80's", unless the number 80 is possessing something ("robot 80's terrible decision led him to the brink of sanity").

Same at my school. An electrical engineer I knew had his CDL paid for by the university.

Jay2009-12-11 13:13

iToad:

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

And more realistic deadlines. I have yet to hear of a bus driver who was required to get to a bus stop 300 miles away in 6 minutes.

Jay2009-12-11 13:22

I don't get the one about the rideshare plan. Surely it's quite plausible that there could be many people who would prefer to ride in a car than on a bus for reasons of comfort and security -- especially given that this guy is doing background checks. Taxis cost way more than buses, but that fax doesn't seem to have put taxis out of business. Ridesharing generally assumes that the people are going to close destinations, so the trip would be much shorter than having to ride a bus around a pre-arranged set of stops. Etc.

I don't know if the operation would really be viable, but it doesn't strike me as absurd.

Daily commute? Not that much. I know people who do it, but they work at the same location.

works fine around DC (in the US) - there's a thing called a slug line where people line up. Drivers will then pull up and say where they're going and how many (to get HOV driving). It works largely due to the high density office buildings.

Matt.C2009-12-11 18:00

Bus-ted!

BDan2009-12-11 20:18

That's similar to the setup my elementary school had, actually: they filled a school bus full of Apple ][es, and drove it around to the four elementary schools in the city. I don't think the computer teacher had a CDL, though: it wasn't necessary for all the schools to have computer units at the same time, so they only moved it every couple of months, and presumably just got someone else to drive it on those occasions.

Pastor Bentonit2009-12-11 23:57

I am, arguably, a sloppy assassin. As a programmer, I dunno. HALP!

Mike2009-12-12 00:54

I want job #3. I have 15 years of computer science and 12 years as a truck driver. I wish this was a joke.

Mike2009-12-12 00:58

Jay:

iToad:

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

With better pay, better hours, and no emergency phone calls in the middle of the night.

And more realistic deadlines. I have yet to hear of a bus driver who was required to get to a bus stop 300 miles away in 6 minutes.

Truck drivers deal with unrealistic dispatchers all the time. With only 11 hours driving allowed per day, some loads just require the driver to break the law to reach their destination on time. Interestingly enough, most government loads fall into this category..

CAPTCHA: eros - too easy

adfa adfasd2009-12-13 01:04

who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, ed hardy on sale holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster.

Zemm2009-12-13 07:46

NoAstronomer:

Wolfan:

Why not just pay the Network Engineer to go get his CDL?

Because that would like, you know, cost money and stuff. Besides once they were trained they'd probably quit and go work as a bus-driver.

How much would a bus driver get anyway?

One of my friends got a job which is similar to "drive the bus, help the students". They paid for his MR license. (You can Wiki that, as I had to for "CDL")

Though that bus was stationary and I never really got the point of it... Maybe they simply did not find a driver...

Oh, yeah, the Franz Josef ... we took the West Coast Express (or some name similar to that) bus ride up the southern Island. Wonderful, fun, low budget trip. If you climb the Franz Josef then you will start by walking through temperate rain forest before coming to the glacier -- it's possible to stand with one foot on the glacier and one foot in a temperate rain forest.

If you haven't visited NZ then put a visit on your bucket list. And take your time. You couldn't do Massachusetts in two weeks; you'll only hit the highlights of NZ in two months.

db2009-12-14 21:11

Aaron Griffith:

Graham Asher:

I've sent this to my friend Frank, who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster. But that's another story.

I'm not entirely certain that you're not joking here, but nonetheless... I've found that all scoutmasters do at least 5 other interesting but completely unrelated things. It's like a job requirement.

Actually my scoutmaster as a kid was a busdriver. He could get more money that way than infrequent work on medical electronics, which I suppose is only few months reading away from network engineering in the early 1980s. I don't think he would have gone all the way back to England for that job though.

Odd how things connect.

hoodaticus2009-12-15 21:06

Altair:

Rodnas:

Yeah, i know. Our company is looking for a programmer/assasin. The assasin skills are needed to get rid of those pesky customers who are complaining that the software is full of bugs.

!fist

What's your HR email address, I think I'd be perfect for that position.

I've sent this to my friend Frank, who is both an excellent network administrator and a qualified bus driver. He is also a magician and accomplished children's entertainer, holds a flying license, teaches yachting, organises firework displays, and has been a scoutmaster. But that's another story.

I'm not entirely certain that you're not joking here, but nonetheless... I've found that all scoutmasters do at least 5 other interesting but completely unrelated things. It's like a job requirement.

Funny you should mention that, but we have someone doing almost exactly that job in York (UK), driving a bus full of computer kit between schools and colleges, and then helping to deliver lessons and plan the work. And I know a school where at least a couple of teachers, including one head of department, had previously been bus or coach drivers.

dgghua2010-09-04 04:50

Thank You for the post. I love to read interesting post that has knowledge to impart. I hope to read more articles from you and in return I will post also my articles in the forum so that others can benefit from it

Andrew2010-11-19 15:00

Could this be the completed project... https://www.pacerideshare.com/en-US/

John2011-08-04 08:56

What is funny is that I have that combinaison of skills.

I have my driving licence first class (allow me to drive everything but motorcycle) and I am a programmer.

Anonymous Aggie2013-01-16 04:09

I *almost* became a bus driver/computer science combo. I was at UC Davis majoring in CS and learning to drive buses for the student-run bus network (which actually *did* have a few double deckers incidentally) but failed the driving test. (Bus driving, especially non-power-steering buses, is not easy.) Instead, I then found a job as a computer lab tech support guy for a higher wage. But had I passed, I would totally have been a bus-driving CS major. So yeah, even unusual skill combinations sometimes show up. :-)